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Costuming themselves as ghouls and attempting to scare passersby is something that comes quite naturally to middle school boys.

Five years ago, Mary Witt figured out a way to turn that fact into a money-making proposition.

"The boys are always so enthusiastic and whacko. They have a lot of fun," said Witt. "These kids are just devils in disguise and they are going to be football Devils next year."

This Friday and Saturday, from 5 to 8 p.m. the Eagle Valley Middle School football team will again present its Haunted Barn fund-raiser at the Brush Creek Park. The boys do the haunting and the money raised goes back into their program. Since they started the event in 2007, they have purchased a scoreboard, better helmets, new jerseys and goal posts. Last year's event raised $2,760.

Witt said one of the best aspects of the Haunted Barn is it's a kid-driven fund-raiser. "We don't really need a bunch of parents to do everything. The kids do it themselves," she said.

That includes using some discretion - the scaring is intended to be age-appropriate and there is no physical contact allowed. But within those parameters, everyone finds a way to have a good, albeit sometimes startling, time.

Witt hopes some of the Haunted Barn alumnae will drop by this weekend. "This year's seniors at EVHS were the first year we did the haunted barn. We're hoping a bunch of the high school football players will come by."